Learn French with Paul Noble for Beginners – Part 1

French Made Easy with Your Personal Language Coach

By: Paul Noble

Narrated by: Paul Noble

Length: 3 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's Summary

Collins French with Paul Noble combines an exciting new non-traditional approach to language learning with the easy, relaxed appeal of an audio-only product. No books. No rote memorisation. No chance of failure. 

Paul Noble is a genius with a higher IQ than Einstein. Despite this, he still struggled with language learning at school. He found himself feeling ‘confused, incapable and unable to really say anything’. As a result of his negative early experiences, Paul has come up with a ground-breaking new method of language teaching that removes the need for months of study. With Paul Noble, everyone really can speak a language. 

Part 1 of the course covers: 

• Language ground rules 
• The use of the past tense 
• Finding French words used in English 
• Asking questions 
• Essential vocabulary to use when booking into a hotel, taking a taxi, and eating out. 

A native-speaking French expert helps Paul to deliver the course and to perfect your pronunciation. No complicated grammatical explanations, no rote memorisation, no writing - no stress.

Learn over 6,000 words in no time at all and - most importantly - learn how to make your new vocabulary work for you. (Use the accompanying booklet as a reference and revision tool.)

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2010 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

GOOD BUT POWER FRENCH IS WAY BETTER

Any additional comments?

I sincerely like Paul Noble. He is a good traditional French teacher and I learned something from his program “Learn French the Natural Way”. However, it is dry. Very dry and somewhat boring. I really prefer Mark Frobose’s “Power French Accelerated” series because he is so upbeat and I learned so much more and far more quickly with Mark and his native French speaker.

Great approach to learning French!

Any additional comments?

This method presents French in a very accessible & rational way. He starts with some basic vocabulary and sentence structure and builds on it with (mostly) words that both French & English have in common. (The French-English words only vary by pronunciation and slight spelling differences.) He also gives helpful connections between words that are not of shared origin. This makes for learning through 'absorbing' rather than memorizing. And all of the vocabulary feels relevant. You can tell there was a lot of thought put into the material presented. The author narrates in a nice friendly voice and all of the French is spoken by a native speaker. I've bought the other audiobooks in the series and am finding them very beneficial.

best language teacher EVER

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is the most easy, incredible way to learn a language that I have everrrrrr experienced. I bought all of the french language learning courses sold here on audible, and there is no competition AT ALL. My husband, who has struggled to learn another language for years, said, "I want to marry Paul Noble and have his babies!" (he was Just joking :) but he loves loves loves this course. And it is for the true beginner, BUT it is also great for those who took this in high school years ago, AND anyone needing any refresher. He is absolutely brilliant in his method! Better than Pimsleur BY FAR (yes, we bought Pimsleur too. With pimsleur, after HOURS you still can only speak about 50 words at most). The best! France, here I come this summer, and I am NOT going to sound like an AMERICAN idiot! Hooray!

Not Worth The Money

The narrator rambles, his female french speaker speaks much too quickly, there are pauses where there shouldn't be (almost seemed like they were filling space, which doesn't make sense? The thinking portions could have used those pauses, since they were too short). I never made it past chapter two because his lessons moved too quickly. I would recommend finding an alternative learning source and not use this series.

as terrible as his other titles. refund!

by far the worst language program I have ever witnessed other than the other programs by the same author

No regionality Mentioned

What would have made Collins French with Paul Noble - Learn French the Natural Way, Part 1 better?

DIY Language packs are usually a great idea. French, however, is problematic. There are 2 main vocabularies for French, Canadian and UK. Book is not identified as either, and my French Wife looks at me stupid when I try this guys works. I'm sure it's just a dialect issue, but would it kill the market to help someone learn Canadian French?!

Would you ever listen to anything by Paul Noble again?

Maybe...

Have you listened to any of Paul Noble’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Collins French with Paul Noble - Learn French the Natural Way, Part 1?

n/a

Any additional comments?

Please specify nationality for international languages. Dialect is of huge importance when learning a language. Now I gotta scrub everything I learned because it does not match my Nations use of the language

There is NO better resource I have found

First of all, for those who are saying there are words "cut off".... that is due to you using Bluetooth. I've had the same issues over Bluetooth in my vehicle, but only occasionally. There are NO words cut off in Paul's entire series. I have Part 1, 2 and 3.

Now, on to the review. There is virtually NO better resource I have found for learning French. Paul Noble is said to have copied Michel Thomas, but I have listened to Michel Thomas and I am telling you, he is confusing. Listening to other students constantly make mistakes is a pain in the butt and is VERY confusing, not to mention a time waster. Paul Noble has truly refined the Michel Thomas method. He has perfected it. I cannot believe how much French I am learning in such a short amount of time. I'm actually in the process of taking his recordings/cd's and putting each and every word and sentence into Anki, to truly solidify what I am learning.

I've tried SOOOOOO many other language programs, for years. I had given up on thinking there was a truly great method for learning a language. Not anymore. I am 100% sold on Paul Noble's method, and I will shout it from the rooftops.

THANK YOU, Paul, for making such an amazing French learning program.

At least ok for brushing up

I studied French in school for many years but then never used it. I bought this to brush up and it does a decent job of helping you with that at least. I cannot really assess how practical it would be for someone who is completely unfamiliar with the language.

So easy and perfect!

If you could sum up Collins French with Paul Noble - Learn French the Natural Way, Part 1 in three words, what would they be?

So grateful for finding these books. I can't wait to start the 2nd in the French series. I am constantly doing long drives and have taken up learning French to make use of my time spent in the car. This teaching style is so effective, I'm so excited!

poor performance

the content was good, but the French pronunciation was too fast... i had trouble to follow her and unbeatable pronunciations

Excellent for beginners or intermediate speakers

I trained as a teacher and I can see in Paul Noble's approach to teaching French lots of the latest thinking on how people learn best. He draws on the knowledge you already have, eg words in French and English that are the same or similar. He minimises learning by rote, instead he makes links between words, ideas and concepts so you understand why something is the way it is rather than just parroting it back. Because he helps you to understand the underlying grammar you are empowered to start to build your own sentences using the rules and logic you have learned. He frequently revisits what you have already learned to fix it in your memory. This is a very powerful way to learn. I am now onto the third download and have learned how to use the present, past and future tenses to talk about basic things like booking a room, ordering food and reserving a table, saying what I think, visiting the doctor, getting directions, buying tickets shopping etc. Also little constructions to make the conversation flow more smoothly, such has how to use 'it', and 'there', eg 'I have bought it'' and 'I want to go there'. It is not a miracle worker and I will still have to practice a lot to become confident and sort out my 'you musts' from my 'you cans' but I am well on my way and feeling very motivated by this approach. Paul also speaks very clearly and is not annoying at all. All of the French is repeated by a native French speaker so you can be confident you are getting the correct pronunciation. I took French at school until the age of 17 but I can confidently say that I have learned more through this CD than all my time at school. My criticisms would be that there are no tracks on the downloads, only chapters, which can be half an hour long. Therefore if you want to go over something again you have to rewind rather than just skip back. Also the pdf is designed to be printed on A5 and I have A4 paper so it is quite wasteful on the paper front.

Collins French with Paul Noble, thank goodness!

This Paul Noble French course is just what I have been needing for the past ten years or so. Learning French with it has been quite simply a joy.

I first heard about Paul Noble languages earlier this year, when I read a review of The Paul Noble Language Institute in the newspaper. The review was extremely favourable and mentioned that it was now possible to get these courses on CDs and so I thought 'yes!'

I have now worked through the course twice and feel that it has been an incredible experience, both an incredible learning experience but also an incredible experience on any level. I have made so much progress, simply enormous progress, in a few weeks of part-time study.

I am going to keep up with the French for another year, just by itself. But I am tempted after that to perhaps try the Paul Noble German when it comes out. I have always loved Heidelberg and thought about learning the language before but I never really believed it would be possible. After doing this French course however, I am given to believe that anything might be possible...

Good BUT

Any additional comments?

I feel like I have learnt a lot from listening to these audiobooks BUT there are some things which have made it frustrating and detracted from the experience which would be really easily remedied. I am writing this review in the hope that the publisher will take note!

1. There are occasions when the gap between Paul asking a question and the answer being given is non existent - seriously frustrating when you want to think it through and try to answer for yourself but don't even have time to reach for the pause button before she has blurted out the answer. REALLY ANNOYING!

2. I really resent the few occasions when Paul asks a trick question so I formulate an incorrect answer as I feel like I am reinforcing bad information by formulating that answer. I would prefer an explanation of the exception and then to be asked a question.

3. Most importantly, what I would give for a workbook or a transcript, or anything?!!? To me to learn a language you might as well also learn how to read it, write it etc or at least have a vague understanding of what it looks like e.g. the different verb endings, if you have just listened to the recordings you will be virtually unaware of all of the different verb forms. It will only help not hinder you. I gather if you buy the CDs you get a book of some description but no one seems to have thought through selling the book separately so that those of us living in digital 2014 can also participate.

3. There are a few moments when things are not explained. Someone who is not intimately familiar with either french or with the recordings needs to listen as a lay person and point out the loose ends.

To any would be french speakers I do recommend this but would suggest you don't give yourself any grand ideas about listening in the car, whilst washing up etc and becoming a fabulous bilingual multitasking have it all kind of human. I tried that but found it totally ineffective. I have made about a thousand times more progress by actually sitting down and giving it 100% of my attention with a notepad, pen and most importantly google (to sort of bodge compensation for the lack of supporting text).

An excellent way to learn - tried and tested!

I have never been very good at languages, but downloaded all four parts of this course in preparation for a recent family holiday to France. The method Paul uses works well, and I found I was able to make rapid progress after just a few days listening to the course on my way to and from work.

When on holiday I found I had the confidence to do the usual holiday things like ask for directions, reserve tables, order in restaurants and buy tickets for tourist attractions. I even surprised my family by stopping a passer-by in the street on the first day and checking whether or not I had to pay for parking in the town square!

It's a testament to this course that since returning from France, I have continued to listen to the final "review" lesson (part 4) to keep up the knowledge I've gained. Thoroughly recommended.

Speak French as you Go About Life

If you want to brush up your French this is a great way to do it. I did A level French a long, long time ago and had loved the language but had forgotten even basic verbs. I feel as if these audio books have connected me with so much that I had lost. I bought all three books in series and then the course review. I will return to them again. I would love it if my son,who is doing GCSE French, would listen to them too as I think they would be excellent for him. The chances of him acting on my advice are slim but these audio books really impressed me.

Too much English, not enough French!

I bought this title to brush up my very rusty French, and I'm finding the Paul Noble method very annoying. Why is it that in order to tell us one word of vocabulary he feels the need to talk for ages in English? Most people can realise that 'chambre' is similar to 'chamber' which is an old fashioned term for 'room' without it being explained very slowly.

The way in which he encourages you to build sentences is good, though I question how useful and/or natural some of these sentences are. 'I want to know why you haven't prepared the dinner, I'm hungry' might suit a domestic dispute, but it's not really that useful day to day.

The technique, of course, is once you have mastered one past tense sentence, you can make others by finding out the vocabulary yourself. Fair enough, but who needs to use these kinds of constructions? How is this different from how French is taught in school? What is so 'Natural' about this way of learning?

Perhaps a good product for absolute beginners.

My French is better thanks!

I found French a challenge at school. I found this programme by Paul Noble a good way to refresh and improve my French. I find the listening can be a bit dry but that is me not the programme. Some great devices and ways of thinking about language plus the ability to stop and replay helps with getting the phrasing and the language right. More practise to do but I am enjoying the style of teaching.

Loved it

Amazing how simple this is, I'll definitely listen again before my next trip to France!

Fantastic audiobook - learn fast!!

Brilliantly put together. I have learnt more French in 3 chapters than school, college, university and holidays put together. I'd recommend to anyone wanting to learn French!

Great for learning basic sentence structure

loved this, basic and easy and allows you to go at your own pace. I have used this audio book for both french and Italian and both are very helpful. There is no booklet which he mentions but it really doesn't matter too much. This is for understanding sentence structure only, if you are after specific objects then this isn't for you. There are numbers up to 20 and that's it. Still I give it 5 stars for the price.